(Pat Kerby) – The first step to correcting a problem is accepting that it exists.
Human nature is a difficult baseline to work with because it shatters our egos. Accepting the fact that only a few will choose integrity, while most will try to find a way to work around it, is a hard pill to swallow. But once you do, the best (notice I did not say perfect) method of government becomes clear.
Here are our choices:
Democracy. In a democracy, eventually the majority will always (whether tricked into it, or on purpose) vote themselves benefits from the public trough, which will lead to rights denied the minority, bankruptcy, and collapse.
I hate when the media or politicians say we are fighting for democracy around the world…Democracy sucks, and if you’ve ever been on the bad end of a vote to see who gets eaten first in a lifeboat, (like I have) you know it.
Monarchy/Oligarchy. We can never trust one ruler, or a group of rulers (what we probably have now) to decide for all, because of that other constant in human nature “Power Corrupts”. History is rife with those lessons.
It is absurd to think that if man is not capable of governing himself, that it is acceptable to be governed by other men.
Constitutional Republic. So a Constitutional Republic becomes the clear best choice out of all of the available choices. It is the closest thing yet devised to self government, while protecting the rights of the people, and providing an avenue for justice (which has been perverted by the legal profession).
In our Republic, you have a written Constitution, and more importantly, a Bill of Rights, setting limitations on government’s allocated areas of influence, while protecting the rights of the people. To maintain such a government, steps must be taken to constantly monitor it to insure transparency, and strict adhesion to the rule of law. That is what the press used to be for, and why there are 3 branches of government.
Competition breeds transparency. We the people are better off when there are parties that do not trust each other watching every move the other side makes to insure they do not cheat. Unfortunately we have allowed things to slip so that both sides are willing to go along with the cheating to benefit themselves at our expense.
Decent government is possible, but we the people must be eternally vigilant to insure transparency is maintained, and that there is strict adherence to the rule of law, and that special interests do not control the seats of power.
(Mr. Kerby lives in Pahrump, Nevada)
